Tyson Fury and promoter Frank Warren were both left furious at the result of the heavyweight title rematch against Oleksandr Usyk.
The self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ returned to Riyadh’s Kingdom Arena on Saturday night looking to avenge his first professional career defeat from seven months ago, when he was edged out by a narrow split decision in an unsuccessful bid for undisputed status as he saw his second world championship reign brought to a halt.
It was another extremely close battle between the great rivals in their second showdown this weekend, with momentum swinging back and forth once again as both men had periods of notable success but could not find a stoppage.
However, it ended up being a more decisive points victory for Usyk this time, with the Ukrainian retaining his unified WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, IBO and The Ring titles by unanimous decision as judges Gerardo Martinez, Patrick Morley and Ignacio Robles all scored the bout 116-112 in favour of the reigning champion.
It was a result that stunned Fury, who will now face questions over his boxing future and potential retirement after back-to-back losses having turned 36 over the summer.
He was so frustrated that he exited the ring before conducting his normal post-fight interview with broadcasters, but was promptly filmed backstage raging at the result while in conversation with former trainer Ben Davison.
“I swear to God I thought I won it by at least three rounds,” he said. “I bossed the fight, on the front foot all night.”
Speaking at his post-fight press conference, a calmer Fury - who was also adamant that he had won the first fight against Usyk back in May - said: “I was quite confident, I thought I won that fight again.
“I think I’ve been Larry Holmes-ed here, I thought I won both fights. But then again I’ve gone home with two losses on my record now, so there’s not much I can do about it.
“I can just fight my heart out and do the best I can. But again, I’ll always believe until the day I die that I’ve won that fight.
“Aggressive on the back foot, I was on the front foot all night, landing to body and head. Frank [Warren] had me three or four rounds up, a lot of people had me at least two.
“I just don’t know, it is what it is. I’m not going to cry over spilled milk, it’s happened now. I know boxing, I’ve been in it all my life. You can’t change decisions.
“But I’ll just always feel a little bit hard done by. Not a little bit, actually a lot. But I think when you don’t get the knockout, this is what happens. You can’t guarantee a win.”
He then added: “I think he [Usyk] got a little Christmas gift from the judges. A Christmas gift early.”
Asked if Usyk was the best fighter he had ever faced, Fury - who had visible bruising and damage around both eyes - insisted despite his successive losses: “Not really to be fair.
“In that fight there, he never hurt me once. I’ve got a couple of flesh wounds, they will be gone in two or three days. Not a mark on me. It is what it is.”
Promoter Warren was similarly critical of the result and scoring, having felt that Fury did more than enough to win the rematch.
"How does Tyson only get four rounds in this fight? It is impossible to only be given four rounds,” he said in the ring afterwards after Fury had made an early exit.
"Each of them [the judges] only giving him four rounds, and all different rounds, too.
"I think he [Fury] won the fight. I am not saying this with any bias. All of us on the front row sitting together saw it the same way. Even Usyk's own people didn't look too happy.
"It is nuts for the scores to be like that. Very harsh scoring, I don't get it. Just to get four rounds out of eight in a fight like that. It is just nuts.
"I thought Tyson was in control of the fight, I thought he boxed very well, he had Usyk on the back foot throughout most of the fight. But, it is what it is."
